Controversy Over Servoz Electricity Pylons

The small village of Servoz was plunged into chaos last winter when heavy snow brought two large electricity pylons down, cutting power to the area and causing damage to buildings. Locals fear that the same thing could happen again without expensive measures being taken to bury power cables underground.

The first pylon that came crashing down last February narrowly missed a local family’s house, crushing the roof of their nearby garage. A second pylon collapsed shortly afterwards, leading to the closure of the only two access roads in and out of Servoz.

Almost one year on, the debate still rages about what should be done to prevent a similar incident from happening again. Local residents want power cables to be buried underground but the cost of doing so would run into millions of euros.

The pylons each carried 42 000 volts of electricity, thankfully no one was hurt but it has given residents cause to worry about what could happen - especially regarding a 63 000 volt cable that runs from Les Houches to Chamonix.

The larger cable is scheduled to be buried underground in the future but not until 2019. In the meantime, residents want smaller cables that run closer to houses to be interred but the cost of doing so is a million euros per kilometre of cable, with there being 9 kilometres of cable to consider. The pylons have since been resurrected with strengthened towers but locals can’t help but fear that it is not enough.

Franck Mainardis is one of the locals who opposes the resurrection of the overhead pylons, he is campaigning for electricity cables to be buried beneath the field of Plaine Saint-Jean.

A resolution will not be found quickly though - years of negotiations and studies are anticipated before any decision is reached. Cost is a major factor as the bill for burying the 63 000 volt cable and removing its 20 pylons that run alongside the A40 road from Les Houches to Chamonix is expected to top 10 million euros, so the residents of Servoz may have to wait a while longer to get the answer they are hoping for…